Wildcat

by Rebecca Hutto

  Ember’s ears perked up. ‘Echo? Maybe things are starting to work out.’

  “It’s me,” Eclan shouted, “an’ I brought you some guests.”

  “Eclan?” Echo’s face appeared through the trees. “Oh. Mum’s been expecting you. You’re late. And what do you mean ‘guests’?”

  A similarly colored, shorter-furred tomcat trotted beside her. “Is that—oh tahg, it is! Ember! You’re alive!” Shard broke into a run. “I thought I’d killed you, I did. Kept me up at night for ages, but here you are, and you’re—” He slid to a stop. “A machine? What? What happened to you? Oh, did I cause that? Oh no, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, I really am. Oh no. Now I’ve got another thing to keep me up at night wi—”

  “AAAAAGGGH!” Echo yowled. She charged toward them. “You killed her! You killed Tainu, you filthy Westerner! I’ll kill you!”

  Ember’s eyes widened. ‘Oh, she’s talking about me. And she’s angry at me. Understandable, but inconvenient. Wait, does she actually want to kill me?’

  “Uhm, Ember, you might want to run,” Hyrees said.

  Echo snarled as she neared them. Ember stepped back. ‘Most likely yes.’

  She darted left, hopping on three legs. Echo landed where she’d been a moment before. Eclan jumped between them.

  Echo snarled again. “Move out of the way, Eclan.” Her eyes locked onto Ember’s. “Oh, I’m going to kill you until you’re dead, and burn all your bones, and whatever in the forest your hideous legs have become, too.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy,” Eclan hissed. “You don’t wanna kill this one, Echo. Besides, she’s been punished enough already. She got exiled from the West, and half the cats she cares about are dead. Your mom’ll want her alive. I’m doing you a favor by telling you this. Trust me.”

  “I don’t trust you, actually, and I don’t give a bird dropping about what mum wants. You killed half of my family when you killed Tainu, Ember. You deserve to die.”

  ‘Probably, but my family doesn’t. Kivy didn’t do anything, and who knows what’s happened to her. I have to at least live long enough to try to protect her. After that, you can kill us all you want. One of us won’t even mind so long as you kill him first.’ Ember pinned back her ears and lowered her head, trying to look submissive. “I didn’t mean to kill her. We were fighting, and it was an accident. Echo, she was my family too. When I killed her, I killed one of my closest friends. I can’t even think about her without feeling sick about myself.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” she growled. “Because it’s not working.”

  “No, wait, don’t kill her! We have to save our colony, and I can’t do it alone,” Hyrees said.

  Echo shoved Eclan into the snow, then lunged at her. Ember jumped sideways. One of her paws hit a hidden stone, sending a tiny pain signal into her nervous system.

  Echo landed hard against the ice. She jumped up and shook herself off. “Hold still, you bloody, filthy, murdering Westerner!”

  “Echo, wait!” Shard called. He ran toward them. “Don’t, don’t, please don’t kill her. You can’t kill her yet. I only just found out she survived the Wolf Trail, and I don’t want you to be a killer. Well, I mean, I know you’re a hunter and all, so you’re a deer killer, yes, but I don’t want you to be a cat killer. I don’t want to have nightmares about you. And they’re the only other friends I have, you know. Killing them will bring me back down to just you. And maybe Sunshine, but that’s about it. I don’t want that. I want to have friends. In the plural. And they’re your friends too, remember?” He positioned himself between them, head low and tail tucked. “They are, uh, your-your friends too, aren’t they?”

  Echo groaned and turned away. “Fine. We’ll take you to Mum. But I’m only doing this for you, Shard. They are not my friends, and she is a filthy, murdering weirdo who has never been my friend. They can be your friends as long as you like, but I promise, the moment you stop being friends, I’m going to kill her. So, Westerner, this means you’d better treat my brother like he’s the only one keeping you alive, because he is.”

  “Great. Thanks. I’ll . . . uh, I’ll try my best,” Ember said. She looked at Shard and smiled. “And thank you, too.” She lowered her voice until only he could hear. “She’s not joking, is she? W-would she really kill us? Me and Hyrees, that is. I know she wouldn’t kill you.”

  “I-I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not, but it’s definitely possible. Wait, why are you here? Eclan said you were . . . exiled? Exiled for what, exactly? And what did Hyrees mean by you two trying to save your colony? How can you do that here? I’m not sure I follow what exactly is going on.”

  ‘You should probably tell the truth, Ember. If you make up a lie, it won’t be any good, and if you don’t say anything, they’ll get suspicious. Fox it, Eclan. Hyrees, you too. Why did you two have to speak? That was not supposed to get mentioned yet.’

  “You’d better answer him, wildcat,” Echo growled.

  Ember let out a tiny puff of air through her mouth. “It’s a long story, but—”

  Echo shoved her forward. “Tell it on the way, then. We’re wasting our time standing around like useless elk.”

  ‘Please don’t be mad at me. Your mouth is part of the reason they want to know in the first place. It can give them the answers.’ She swallowed hard and groaned softly as her own feet sent little jolts of pain through her skull. Walking on three legs ruined her concentration. “Hyrees, you’re better at these things than I am. Tell them everything. Might as well be honest.”

  “Ah, uh,” Hyrees stuttered. “Well, it is a long story, so, you know, fair warning.”

  “Listen, fluffhead,” Echo said, “I don’t care how bloody long it is, or which one of you tells it. I want to know what it is you cats did to get you both thrown out of the West, and what ridiculous idea brought you here, in this pathetic state, in the middle of a possible war between our colonies. Eclan, you’re coming too. Get a move on, all of you.”

  Eclan growled under his breath and ran to catch up with them. As they walked, Hyrees began their story with a loose account of the day Ember had come home. Ember herself turned her attention back to her faulty leg.

  ‘Thai, can you please figure out what’s going on with this thing? I really need to get it fixed as soon as possible. Maybe direct a little extra power to the self-healing mechanisms. Is that even possible?’

  [It would appear that a wire has been pulled loose. You really should look where you’re going, Ember. That ice would have been visible, had you continued calculating your steps in your usual manner.]

  ‘Not helping, Thai. Can you do something to fix it? I need all of my paws right now. They aren’t going to take in two cast-out invalids from their enemies. I have to be useful enough to get both myself and Hyrees in safely.’

  [Understood. Unfortunately, it would seem the wire may be too loose to reconfigure correctly. Fixing it would require mechanical surgery. Michelle designed them. Maybe she would be able to fix it. Would you like to try calling her again?]

  Ember moaned. ‘Fine, yes, but I don’t think she’s going to answer. I’m pretty sure the humans have abandoned us.’

  [I don’t think they would abandon us, Ember. Michelle is my creator and your savior. She wouldn’t leave us by choice. I will call her now.]

  [calling]

  [Oh. Her number is still unavailable. Well, it was worth a try.]

  The jostling motion of hopping along on three legs hurt her head a little more with each step, and the equally jarring reminder of the humans’ desertion made a dull ache seep into her temples. ‘I hope they’re okay. They did say they were bending rules to take me here. What if they got hurt because of me? Well, either way, I told you. We’re on our own. I’m on my own. I have to fix myself. Do you know how to go about securing the wire? Maybe you could tell me what to do. I don’t have thumbs, but I know how to use my paws, even if I’ve only got one to work with right now.’

  [Yes, it is entirely possible they’
ve been injured or killed because of you. And yes, I should be able to walk you through a repair. I don’t think this is the time for fixing yourself, though. The repair work may take several hours to complete, depending on your dexterity. I suggest finding someplace safer.]

  She groaned again. ‘This is not how I was hoping today would go. That’s just the theme of the mooncycle, isn’t it?’

  “You killed Whitehaze? You killed someone else?”

  Echo’s snarl sent her back into the external world. A shiver crept up her spine, raising her fur with it.

  “And you expect us to take you in?” she continued. “A cat from an enemy colony who also happens to be wanted for two murders? Hah! You must be out of your mind. I just hope Mum lets me be the executioner.”

  “Oh, please no,” Shard said. “Is it true, Ember? Did you really kill him?”

  “Whitehaze killed my brother,” Hyrees growled. “He betrayed our colony. He was working with you, wasn’t he?”

  “What are you talking about?” Echo snapped. “He’s never worked with us. In fact, he bloody well hated us, and we hated him. I’m glad he’s gone, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a murdering wildcat.”

  Ember glanced at Hyrees, who looked back at her with an unreadable expression. Silver and purple wavered behind her eyes as her mind processed Echo’s words.

  ‘You hated him specifically? But I thought you weren’t allowed to speak to any of the council members. What is going on here? Because something is definitely not lining up.’

  “Did you really kill him?” Shard asked again.

  She sighed. “Yes. I killed him. I don’t know why, but I did it, and everything fell apart after that. Like Hyrees said, we think he killed Farlight, but . . . we’re not sure.”

  Shard pinned back his ears. “Oh. Uh, oh. S-so why are you here now?”

  “My family,” she replied. “We’ve come here as a last resort to try to prevent them from being killed, but everything else has gone wrong, so this probably will too.”

  “Don’t say that. Killer or not, I’ll stand for you, Ember. You’re still my friend, and I don’t say that lightly. Tainu was my friend too. It hurt when you killed her. But I nearly killed you, and that led to you needing robot legs, so we’re even enough. I guess. And, of course, I’m also standing for Hyrees. Hyrees, you’re probably the closest friend I have that I’m not related to, you know. Ah, no-no offense Ember. Wait, we are still friends, right?”

  “Yeah, of course,” Hyrees said.

  “Oh, brilliant. My opinion isn’t worth much, I’m afraid, but I can still try to help. Better than nothing, I suppose. To be honest, I hate all this warring and killing and such. It’s not necessary, really. If you, or I, or us working together can put an end to it, well, I’ll do almost anything.”

  Ember sucked in a deep breath and organized her thoughts.“Thank you, Shard. I’m glad you’re okay with helping us, even after everything that’s happened. And that’s actually what we’re here for: ending the war.”

  He smiled. “Well, if you do, that would be the absolute best thing, it would.”

  “I somehow doubt Mum will listen to a couple of Westerners right now, but by all means try,” Echo said.

  They all fell silent. The breeze cut through their fur, causing Ember’s heating grid to glow brighter. Shard stared at her but said nothing. Several leaps ahead, the ground disappeared at what appeared to be the mountain crest. Based on past experiences and the positions of the trees, she deduced it to be a false summit. As they climbed, more mountain appeared beyond the lump of earth, confirming her suspicions. She sighed softly. The sunset still flared behind them, sending light bouncing off of the ice and snow. Ember’s jaw tensed; her stomach growled, and her gaze blurred out of focus. She yawned and fought to keep herself awake.

  The ground leveled off, so she stopped to blink the tiredness from her eyes. A thick tangle of bramble, similar to the one guarding Starcross’s Gorge, stretched out in front of them.

  “Huh. It’s like a natural abatis,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.

  “Keep moving,” Echo growled.

  Echo led them through a small break in the wall. When they reached the other side, Ember stopped again, mouth dropping open as pristine white awe filled her head. A giant crack opened up the side of the mountain, creating an enormous half-cave filled with rocks and cats. The setting sun illuminated it, making the entrances of two offshooting caverns visible. Near the southern edge of it, several cats rested inside a patch of wall covered from top to bottom with a network of holes and passageways. Five fire pits lined the outer edges of the half-chamber. Only three were lit, and two of them still had protective clay coverings, possibly originals from Forestfire’s time.

  A few leaps away, a tomcat lapped water from a steaming spring. Three kittens chased each other around, their mother watching from atop a nearby boulder. A group of hunters dragged a deer carcass into the larger cave.

  Ember tilted her head. ‘It looks so different, yet at the same time, it kind of reminds me of home. It’s like the West, but the location is better. Life continues on, I guess.’

  “Wow,” Hyrees said. “I always imagined it being just a little dip in the mountain or something. I didn’t even know rocks could form like that. Heh, my eyesight might not be great, but tahg, this still looks amazing.”

  “Well, technically it was eroded away by water and other things, like wind, and ice, which I guess really counts as water too,” Ember said. “It doesn’t get formed like that; it gets carved, like clay. The mountain might have even split during an earthquake, speeding up the process. I learned about those a few days ago, by the way. Back when things were okay. They don’t happen here very often. At least big ones, the ones that do that, don’t. But either way, it’s impressive, and I like it.” She realized they were staring at her. “What? I found it interesting and thought y’all might too.”

  Echo snorted. “Like I said: murdering weirdo. Now, come on. Let’s find Mum and get this over with. Oh, and welcome to the Rift. Now follow me.”

  “Wait,” Hyrees said. “I recognize that smell. Were those red things back in the thicket snake berries? Seems a little close, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, and I recommend you stay away from them. We’ve lost enough fluffheaded kittens to those.”

  As they made their way into the heart of the Rift, more and more cats noticed them, or rather her. Noisy, glowing, mechanical legs made blending in impossible, and their glares caused little waves of silver to oscillate in her mind. She cowered under the lake of piercing green and blue eyes. ‘Okay, this is it. We’re in the East. No turning back. No turning back. No . . . Oh no, this was a terrible idea. Didn’t Dad say to forget the colonies? As in plural? As in West and East? Ohhh, this is stupid. Me and my impulsive self are about to get us killed. Lotta good that’ll do.’

  They stopped in front of a large, pointed rock. Ember let her gaze follow it to its peak, then continued upward to where Rift’s massive stone ceiling appeared to glow in the fading sunlight.

  “Hey, Mum!” Echo called, voice rather appropriately echoing. “I don’t know why you’re still bothering with him, but Eclan is back. Oh, and this time he’s brought friends. He said you’d want them alive, so I’ve spared them. For now. They’re both Westerners, by the way, and one’s part machine and all murderer.”

  “You really do have to excuse her,” Shard whispered. “I’m sure you can imagine why, but she’s still pretty sore about what you did, Ember. Tainu and her were close. Really close. In fact, I sometimes wonder if she liked her more than she likes me. It, er, kind of breaks my heart to see her like this, though. I hope you can both forgive us. Me for nearly killing you, Ember, that is, and her for not forgiving you. I, uh, guess we, uhm, really all have-have reasons to be angry, but . . .”

  Hyrees placed a paw on Shard’s. “I forgive you. There’s nothing for you to be sorry about. I think she likes being like this, with the robot parts, and the E
TAg and such; and if she were listening right now, I’m sure she’d forgive you too.”

  An oil slick coated her imagination as she turned her attention back to the cats beside her. “Just because I’m looking at the cave doesn’t mean I’m not listening. Believe it or not, I actually am capable of multitasking. But yes, I do forgive you, and, like my overly assuming companion said, I like my renovated body. Or at the very least, don’t mind it. The pros and cons balance each other out, I think. I may not be able to clawmark, but I can tell you the answer to almost anything. And I also need to perform my own mechanical surgery, apparently.”

  “Hyrees and Ember?”

  Everyone turned to look at the rock. On its pinnacle sat a large tabby. Her milky green eyes glared down at them, sending a chill up Ember’s spine.

  “When she said we had guests, I hardly expected you two,” Jade said. “I doubt Lupine would send either of you on any missions. You’ve come on your own. Why? Also, why are your legs glowing?”

  “Because I’m cold, ma’am,” Ember replied.

  “Oh? How . . . unique.”

  Ember nudged Hyrees’s side. He shot her a look that was decidedly not friendly.

  “Whitehaze killed my brother, so Ember killed him,” he said. “We were exiled from the West because of it. We’ve come here to try to work out some kind of deal to protect what little family we have left, and maybe even stop you from attacking again. You probably already know this, but the West isn’t planning on coming after you. They’re just fortifying and defending. Nothing offensive at all.”

  “Again? Attacking again? I don’t know what your new commander told you, but we did not attack your cats or kill Commander Aspen. We were the ones ambushed, not the West. There’s no reason for us to attack, before the ambush, or even now. I never intend to launch an offensive. War risks the lives of my kin. As commander, I cannot put them in danger by forcing them across the valley to fight a needless battle.”

  “Wait, so we aren’t actually fighting anymore?” Shard asked.

  Ember’s eyes widened. Hopeful misty orange forced away most of the silver. ‘Tahg, you are brilliant.’